Comprehensive Painting Lesson Curriculum

With our comprehensive four-year curriculum of painting lessons you get the same education you would get at a traditional Art Academy or University.

But with the advantage you can learn at your own pace, and in the comfort of your own home.

There are no time deadlines or timetables. You can complete the course in as much or as little time as you need. The choice is yours.

What Medium Can I Use?

You can use any medium you like to do your painting lessons. We are completely flexible. This is because you will learn the underlying principles that are the foundation of all great artworks, whatever the medium.

Once you have mastered these key principles, you will be able to paint any subject and in any medium you choose. Here are some alternatives:

Oil Painting

Watercolor Painting

Digital Media

Acrylic Painting

Pastels

Colored Crayons

Mixed Media

Photography

​You can change the medium you use at any time. Or if you like, simply stay with one medium throughout the course. The choice is up to you.

Short painting video segments to make difficult concepts easy to understand (100 video segments in total)

Focused learning assignments to help you fully master each painting technique (350 assignments in total)

Sample assignments to help you progress quickly and solve common painting problems

A Unique Approach to Learning How To Paint

To learn more about our unique approach to learning how to paint in oils, acrylics or watercolor download our prospectus.

Building Block™ Approach

The Virtual Art Academy® online art school program is based on a series of nine skill Building Blocks™.

These Building Blocks form the core of our Virtual Art Academy® Reference Library, which all full members receive with their registration.

Other online painting lessons just teach you how to paint a particular subject such as trees, rocks or other objects. They also only teach you how to paint in one medium such as oil or watercolor. But at the end of those lessons when you try to paint a different subject, or use a different medium you will not know how.

Instead we give you the core skills you need in order to be able to paint any subject using any media.

Spiral of Learning™ Philosophy

Many artists search for a magic bullet in order to improve their paintings, and go from one workshop to another.

But this strategy does not work. To become a great artist, the secret is not about learning more, but in learning how to strengthen your foundation skills and take them to a higher level.

The way we designed our online art school is based around our Spiral of Learning™ philosophy which you continentally deepen your understanding of the core principles.

Professionals will see a continues improvement in their work and in their sales.

Visual Music & Poetry™ Model

As a member of our online art school you will learn to evaluate painting in a new and interesting way.

We have developed a unique Visual Music & Poetry™ Model that will help you critique art in a more objective way.

Applying these Visual Music & Poetry ideas has helped Barry, the author of this course, win many top awards for his work.

Each year more and more Virtual Art Academy students are having similar successes, with exhibitions of their own, and being juried into prestigious art associations.

Our Online Art School Students

Take a look at some of the work created by our online art school students

Need More Information On Our Painting Lessons?

Advanced Painting Lessons For Professionals

Each month we give you an advanced painting lesson in which you analyze a master painting based on our unique Visual Music & Poetry™ model.

You will develop a much greater understanding of composition and a deeper knowledge of what makes a masterpiece a masterpiece.

Over the course of your online art school Program we will study and analyze 48 master works to help take your work to a higher level.

Monthly Master Artist Profile

As a member of our online art school you will be introduced to those master artists throughout the centuries that we think have special knowledge you need to study.

Each month you will get a new artist profile, with instructions for specifically what to look for in their work. This is designed to help strengthen your core skills and find your own particular artistic voice.

We also include information on how to analyze oil and watercolor techniques from the Renaissance, to Classical Realism, to Abstract Expressionism, including both Western and Eastern art styles.

Join us on this monthly voyage of artistic discovery and learn art history in a brand new light.

We also have groups dedicated to plein air painting, as well as for figure painting and portrait painting, abstract painting, and artistic photography.

In these special areas, you can post your work, ask for peer feedback, and get answers to specific questions on painting techniques.

The Online Campus

Our online art school students tell us the encouragement and feedback from an enthusiastic and friendly community of like-minded artists helps motivate them and they learn faster. As a bonus, you can make wonderful friendships worldwide.

"The feedback and community spirit on the online campus has been vital."

Joanne Scerri Valentino - Malta

Read full review here.

All registered members of our online art school get access to our Online Campus where you can interact with other Virtual Art Academy students from all over the world.

"The online campus is a wonderful place to meet other artists and receive critical feedback on my progress."